(AP) -- A federal indictment in Detroit says the government unwittingly paid more than $480,000 to a phony health-care business that was a front for acquiring and selling powerful painkillers as far away as Alabama.
The indictment unsealed Thursday charges 11 people in the alleged scheme. Authorities say a business called Quick Response Medical Professionals paid people as much as $220 to be seen by a doctor.
The indictment says prescriptions for painkillers such as OxyContin were obtained and then sold on the streets in 2007 and 2008. Medicare reimbursed Quick Response for the patient visits.
The case involves thousands of doses of OxyContin valued at more than $5 million on the retail market.
The alleged ringleader and others were expected in court Thursday.
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